Punjab & Haryana High Court Issues Notice On CBI's Plea Challenging Former HC Judge Nirmal Yadav's Acquittal In Corruption Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notice to former High Court judge Justice Nirmal Yadav and three others in an appeal preferred by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), challenging her acquittal in the corruption case.

A Special CBI Court in Chandigarh had in April this year acquitted Justice Nirmal Yadav in a 2008 corruption case. In a judgment spanning 89 pages, the Special Court had rejected the CBI's case that the Judge received Rs.15 lakh cash while serving at the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

Division bench of Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul and Justice HS Grewal while issuing notice on CBI's plea today listed the matter for December 15.

In 2008, a peon of then sitting judge of Punjab & Haryana Court Justice Nirmaljit Kaur filed a complaint that a bag of Rs.15 lakh cash was delivered at her Court by advocate Sanjiv Bansal's clerk Parkash Ram. The clerk was apprehended and confessed before the Police that the bag was meant to be delivered to Justice Nirmal Yadav's residence on behalf of former Assistant AG advocate Sanjiv Bansal.

The case was then transferred to CBI and Justice Yadav and four others (one passed away during proceeding) were booked under 11, 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section120-B read with 192, 196, 199 and 200 of IPC for an attempt for giving and receiving bribe allegedly in order to get a favourable order from the judge.

The CBI concluded that Justice Yadav in the capacity of a sitting Judge obtained an amount of Rs.15 lacs and other valuable things without consideration from accused Ravinder Singh and obtained air ticket from accused advocate Sanjiv Bansal, who was not only an Advocate appearing before her, but was also directly interested in property, the subject matter of an appeal pending before her.

The main question before the Court was whether Justice Nirmal Yadav was guilty of receiving bribes from co-accused Ravinder Bhasin, advocate Sanjiv Bansal and one Rajiv Gupta.

The Court rejected the testimony of the prosecution's main witness, RK Jain, who was serving as an Additional District Judge in Haryana. Relevant to note that a property dispute involving Jain was decided by Justice Yadav unfavourably. Jain claimed that the verdict was influenced because she accepted bribe of ₹15 lakh.

Perusing his statement Judge Alka Malik said, "he is a witness who is absolutely unworthy of trust. The witness has very specifically mentioned during the course of his examination that he had made a statement before CBI probably in the month of September, 2008 wherein he had omitted all the relevant facts, which he had stated before the Investigating Officer during his supplementary statement made by him in the year 2010."

The central probe agency presented 78 witnesses against Justice Yadav, including a litigant disgruntled by Justice Yadav's judgment against him.

Flagging the veracity of this witness, who was key to CBI's case, Special CBI Judge Alka Malik said,

"It would have been highly appreciable on the part of a premier investigating agency of the stature of the Central Bureau of Investigation to stick to its very first stance of filing the closure report in the matter in the court of competent jurisdiction, rather than fabricating a highly unworthy of trust evidence in the form of Sh. R.K. Jain (PW26), whose testimony has been proved to be based upon all improvements, assumptions, presumptions, hypothesis and all falsehood."

The judge proceeded to reject CBI's case and acquitted Justice Yadav and four other accused.